Dota Summit 9 Day 1 will start things off with five best-of-two round robin matches, including a must-see matchup between Evil Geniuses and VGJ.Storm.

The Dota Summit 9 will be the first big tournament in weeks and the last one before the grand daddy of them all, The International 2018, in mid-August. Although the tournament will have no bearing whatsoever on TI8, it remains a must-watch with five out of the six participating teams set to play at TI8 in just a few weeks.

We had already said earlier in our preview that OpTic Gaming (4.25 odds) are our picks to win it all, and we stand by it. But, who knows? Without any one of the Tier 1 teams — Virtus.Pro, Team Liquid, PSG.LGD, and arguably Team Secret — in the pool, these six Dota 2 teams are much more evenly matched than most people would like to think.

With less than a day before the start of Dota Summit 9 Day 1, below are our picks, analyses, and predictions on how it will all go down.

Fnatic vs OpTic Gaming

The chemistry between Abed and DJ has been evident since the start and is key to their success. (Fnatic)

A clash of styles, with OpTic Gaming preferring to play for the mid-game with Fnatic playing for the late-game, most of Fnatic’s wins against OpTic Gaming this season have been games that lasted nearly an hour or over. But, all in all, OpTic Gaming holds a 3-2 edge in series wins against Fnatic, with two straight series wins since they started picking up their play two months ago at the Starladder ImbaTV Invitational Season 5 Minor.

If this were a best-of-three, we’d have OpTic Gaming pegged to win here, but since it’s a best-of-two, there’s a good chance that either of these two teams will try to cheese a game and likely walk away with a win each.

Fnatic vs Let’s Do It

With literally nothing to lose and play for except just to have a good time, Let’s Do It will be one of the most relaxed teams playing at the Dota Summit 9. That alone makes them dangerous enough to consider betting on, especially against Fnatic, who’ve always been rather inconsistent.

Evil Geniuses vs Let’s Do It

The current Evil Geniuses roster may not have had a lot of time to mesh, but the collective experience and success of the individual players make them a dangerous team to face off against. (Evil Geniuses)

A few months back, we’d have pegged Evil Geniuses to be an inconsistent team. But, since they’ve added Gustav ‘s4‘ Magnusson and Tal ‘Fly‘ Aizik to the roster, consistency has not been issue. Not with each player playing in their preferred roles now — Syed Sumail ‘SumaiL‘ Hassan is now back to dumpstering enemies in the mid lane.

Considering that Let’s Do It’s play is predicated on the success of their superstar cores Michał “Nisha” Jankowski and Natan ‘Exotic_Deer‘ Michalewicz and that Evil Geniuses holds a significant advantage in that regard, expect the boys in blue to walk away with a sweep here.

Betting: Evil Geniuses to go 2-0 against Let’s Do It at 1.67 odds (GGbet)

Evil Geniuses vs VGJ.Storm

How well Syed Yawar ‘YawaR’ Hassan plays will play a huge factor in VGJ.Storm’s success in this tournament. (Team VGJ)

There are only a few Dota 2 players in the world that you can leave alone in mid against SumaiL that you can expect so succeed or at least break even, and Roman ‘Resolut1on‘ Fominok is one of them. That alone gives VGJ.Storm a significant advantage in this particular matchup. But, expecting the outcome of the middle lane alone to dictate how the match will go is foolish against a team that has the kind of veterans that Evil Geniuses have on their roster.

With each Dota 2 team capable of adjusting mid-series, even after a particularly hard loss, expect both to walk away with a win each in the highlight match of Dota Summit 9 Day 1.

paiN Gaming vs VGJ.Storm

The last series of Dota Summit 9 Day 1 is not as lopsided as most people think it is.

While Aliwi ‘w33‘ Omar is the only internationally known player on the team, the rest are no slouch, especially William ‘hFn‘ Medeiros, who has proven that he can singlehandedly carry his team to win. But, even though paiN Gaming should have a fair chance against VGJ.Storm, expecting this series to go completely their way might be aiming too high.